For the Minnesota Vikings, the dust has officially settled, and waiver claims have been processed. They added two players along the interior of their offensive line, and brought back much of their home-grown talent to the practice squad.
They had to make some difficult decisions today, including parting ways with preseason standout pass-catcher Dillon Bell. He wasn’t the only loss, though.
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson reported that the running back Zavier Scott, whom the team made the difficult decision of cutting ties with yesterday, has opted not to re-join the team’s practice squad. Instead, he’ll join the practice squad of the Vikings’ division rivals in Chicago.
“#Vikings wanted RB ZavierScott back and on their practice squad. But hear he’s expected to land with the #Bears.” Wolfson wrote on X.
Zavier Scott Lost A Roster Battle Against Demond ClaiborneOpinion were split when it came to the Vikings RB3 battle between Scott and rookie Demond Claiborne. While Scott clearly outplayed the sixth-round selection during the preseason (Claiborne had 28 attempts for 73 yards while Scott ran for 42 yards off 12 carries), many hoped the coaching staff would be patient with their draft pick.
Claiborne might not have been touted as the second-coming of Adrian Peterson coming out of Wake Forest, but he possesses a ton of talent in his own right. He ran a blistering 4.37-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, and that speed is evident when he gets the ball in his hands (when there aren’t four or five defenders in his face at the snap, anyway).
He also showed flashes throughout training camp. Vikings starting RB Aaron Jones hyped the rookie up when speaking to speaking to Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling earlier this month.
“You can see it,” Jones said. “Right away, just getting in and out of the cuts. He’s a special back in this league. I get to mentor him up and show him the way. I told him I want him to be successful, I want to see him go on and get paid and those kinds of things. He’ll be playing in this league as long as he wants to, but just got to lock in here and take care of the business.”
The Vikings Don’t Have A Running Back On Their Practice SquadThe most jarring aspect of this situation is the fact that Minnesota doesn’t roster another running back on their practice squad. The vast majority of teams keep at least running back there in case injuries strike. Quite a few teams (like the Bears) currently employ two backs there.
It’s also worth noting that the Vikings only roster three running backs. While that’s not out of the ordinary, roughly half the teams in the league keep four backs. They have much less depth and bodies on hand than most teams.
While they can get through a full NFL season if their three backs can remain healthy, that’s an awfully big “if”. Jordan Mason has been available over the course of a full season only once in his four years in the league. Aaron Jones Jr. missed five games last year.
If either of them were to miss time this season, they would all but certainly be picking a free agent up off the street (or another team’s practice squad) to help contribute. That’s obviously not a great position to be in.
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